Gene-edited Chinese CRISPR babies may have mental ‘superpowers’, researchers warn

[dufus]

The genetically-modified Chinese twins born resistant to HIV last year may also have mental ‘superpowers’ their creator has kept quiet – a cognitive superiority that could kick off a genetic arms race, according to new research.

Lulu and Nana, the genetically-modified Chinese twins reportedly born HIV-resistant courtesy of the CRISPR gene editing tool, may also have been born with markedly superior mental abilities linked to the same gene edit. New research has confirmed that deleting the CCR5 gene – the same modification performed on the girls’ DNA – significantly improves cognition, learning, and memory in mice and men.

 

“The answer is likely yes, it did affect their brains,” University of California at Los Angeles neurobiologist Alcino Silva toldMIT Technology Review, after publishing a paper demonstrating CCR5 deactivation’s beneficial role in post-stroke recovery this week. 

“Those mutations will probably have an impact on cognitive function in the twins,” but the effect is unpredictable, he said, and “that is why it should not be done.”

He Jiankui, a researcher at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, made headlines in November after claiming his team had created the first HIV-resistant babies by deleting the CCR5 gene from human embryos using CRISPR, then implanting the embryos in women.

“My reaction [to the birth of CCR5-deactivated twins] was visceral repulsion and sadness,” Silva confessed, noting that his research on the link between CCR5 and cognition has made him a lightning-rod for Silicon Valley types hungry for super-intelligent designer babies and expressing concern that the genetic arms race was now underway.

 

But the Chinese researcher insisted that wasn’t his intention. “I am against using genome editing for enhancement,” He told a genetics conference a week after the twins were born, though he admitted he was aware of research on the effects of CCR5-deactivation on the brain. Adding to speculation about his motives, He reportedly disappeared shortly after the conference. His experiment appears to have violated China’s ban on reproductive use of gene editing in human embryos, and the government vowed to punish those responsible after learning of Lulu and Nana’s birth. 

 

Silva co-wrote the first published study linking CCR5 to cognition in 2016, showing CCR5-less mice displayed significantly improved memory, out of 140 other genetic modifications. He has watched the rapid progress of the field to clinical trials in stroke patients and those with HIV-related cognitive decline. But, he says, “there is a big difference between trying to correct deficits in such patients and trying to create enhancement.”

We simply don’t know what the consequences will be in mucking around. We are not ready for it yet.

sauce

 

what under the stairs

[rasbridge]

That was a VERY interesting article.  Many thanks for sharing it here.

[BimBamSmash]

Mental superpowers, huh?

 

Well, the future of job market just got a whole lot more exciting for the average soul.

[tivstip]

Good, i need more people like me 😂😂😂😂

[Jogs]

Whenever a human takes a medicine he/she is altering himself/herself. This is also not natural.

Then there is IVF, Bypass surgery, transplant, this that and so many things.

The next thing is obviously genetic modification, no harm in that, or may be as harmful as taking a painkiller.

[flash48]

Perhaps one day the  X-Men movie series may not be science fiction.

[Skanda]

Nothing is natural or unnatural in this world. Natural is also unnatural while unnatural, a natural.

[jamesDDI]

I need and i want use genome editing for enhancement. Please someone delete my CCR5 gene. I am tired to buy phenylpiracetam every month.

[Mutton]

3 hours ago, Jogs said:

Whenever a human takes a medicine he/she is altering himself/herself. This is also not natural.

Then there is IVF, Bypass surgery, transplant, this that and so many things.

The next thing is obviously genetic modification, no harm in that, or may be as harmful as taking a painkiller.

 

I think that's a very dangerous philosophy. It's also wrong in that you think there is real comparison between taking aspirin (which, btw, is a natural product) to cure a headache (for example) and changing a gene to eradicate headaches.

 

There's a big difference to using medicines etc. to 'fix' a body, or even some enhancing drugs like steroids or speed, to permanently changing the genetic code of a species. And that's what is at stake.

 

The former has little to no effect beyond the person taking them, side effects included. The latter... could have drastic effects on the whole population. We have, so far, a tiny understanding of how genes express themselves. Just because we find a useful effect of altering one aspect, doesn't mean we know what else that alteration might do, now or in the future in interaction with something we haven't thought to test, or after a few iterations of reproduction. Unless we plan on destroying anyone who shows detrimental effects, (and we can see them in time), then those effects enter the gene pool as soon as the person reproduces.

 

Add to the above the fact that, humans being what we are, some modifications will be available to the rich and powerful. Not the rest of us. Fancy being ruled by superbeings, or having to defend your country against a genetically enhanced army? I don't.

 

I can't imagine for one second that the above isn't being worked on by certain powers.

 

 

[dufus]

3 hours ago, Mutton said:

drastic effects on the whole population

 

👍

 

i like being mongrel and want stay that way